Sheave or roller for sliding doors



(Model.)

W. LANE, Sheaves or Rollers for Sliding Doors.

No. 231,820. Patented Aug.131,188o.

fd/a//C (10i/@2741 ".PETERS, PHOTO LTHUGRAPH WASHINGTON. D C

NiTED STATES PATENT Erice..

SHEAVEOR ROLLER FOR sLrolNe DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,820, dated August 31, 1880.

Application filed May 24, 1880. (Model.) l

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. LANE, of Millbrook, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Sheaves or Rollers for` Sliding Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same. Y

My invention relates to sheaves `or rollers for sliding doors, and is specially applicable to that class which are used upon the top of the door to suspend it from a rail on which said door slides to open or close. These sheaves or rollers have been applied commonly, for many years, to doors (generally on barns, stables, and like structures) in a form known as hangers in which a strap or bar, fixed to the side of the door at its upper edge and extending upward, was provided with a sheave or roller bearin g upon a rail or track. By this arrangementttwo or more of these hangers being used) the door .was suspended, and could be pushed back and forth, the door moving upon the rollers. As it has been found desirable to have these doors move easily, various ordinary anti-friction devices have been applied with greater or less beneficial effect, so far as the direct vertical bearing of the roller upon the rail was concerned; but in addition to the vertical pressure and friction consequent therefrom, provision is also required against the lateral pressure and binding of the door and hangers upon the rail.

One of the objects of my invention is to lessen the lateral friction by the use ot' globular anti-friction rollers within the case of the sheave, so as to give an anti-friction bearing laterally as well as vertically.

Another object is to simplify and thus improve, and atthe Sametime cheapen, the structure.

To accomplish these objects my invention consists, first, in a door-hanger having a case, A, a circumferentially-grooved boss, b, an internally-grooved wheel, B, and a series of antifriction balls so placed that they hold the parts in position without other fastenings.

It consists, in the second place, of a hanger in which the back or closed side of the wheel It consists, in the thirdplace, in forming the central boss hollow upon the back, and in cutting a gateway or openin g through which the anti-friction rollers may be introduced; and, fourth, it consists in certain subordinate details of construction, all as hereinafter fully set forth, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a front view. Fig. 2 represents a rear view 5 Fig. 3, a section centrallyiu the plane of the wheel, and Fig. 4 a section taken centrally transversely to the plane of the wheel, and Fig. 5, a modification of wheel.

The drawings represent the invention as applied to a hanger adapted to support a door and'permit it to move freely back and forth on a rail xed to the building above the door.

The shell or case toV which the door is directly or indirectly fixed is represented at A.

`It may be provided with means for connection with the door, in kind depending upon the position of the support in relation to the door.

`a boss, b, which corresponds in position and partly in function to the ordinary pin on which the ordinary wheel bears in the form Othanger for many years known and used. It is eularged, as such are usually enlarged, when anti-friction rollers are to be introduced, andas represented in the patent ot' Duehemin, of

, December 17, 1861, No. 33,929. But in addition to this enlargement of the central pivotal stud, which is admitted to be shown in the patent referred to, I have formed the periphery of the stud with a groove approximately semicircular in cross-section and suited to receive the anti-friction balls.

The groove may-be made exactly semicircular but I prefer to make them in the form shown in Fig. 4, the vertical walls k k serving for lateral bearings and the bottom groove for the vert-ical bearing o f the balls.

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nearly around, but cut away at the lower part, for purposes hereinafter to be explained.

The flange c and the central enlarged boss form the major part of an annular' channel, into which fits a sheave, B, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. This wheel is cast diskshaped. The opening d (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2) is of a size adapted to fit over the boss a. The wheel has an outer peripheral groove, m, adapted to bear on the tracks. It has also an inner peripheral groove similar to that on the boss a, and is adapted, with the groove on said boss, to receive the balls e e and give them the requisite play, and is also provided with aflange, o, having straight sides. The relative position of the parts is shown in the transverse section in Fig. 3. When the wheel is in place, as there shown, the groove in said wheel and that on the central boss form an annular channel approximately circular in transverse section of any part,-in which groove the anti-friction balls or rollers move when the wheel B revolves.l The weight of the door is manifestly transmitted through the hangers and grooved boss and anti-friction balls to the wheel or sheave B. This wheel projects through the case, cut away, as shown at f f, Fig.3, and rests, as heretofore explained, upon the rail.

As the grooves make a practically round passage-way or channel for the balls, it is plain that these balls will have lateral as well as vertical bearings, and will relieve any strain Which may come laterally on the hanger by the 'swingin g of the door out of perpendicular plane,'or by any twisting duc to inaccurate fitting of the hanger to the door or to any other cause.

The wheel or sheave B needs to be open only on the inner face. On the back it is closed, and as the Wheel tits snugly within the flange c c of the case, the back of the sheave forms one side of the case and incloses it completely on that side.

The boss bis represented as partially hollow, there bein g a depression on thefrontofthe ease, as shown at g, Fig. 2. This serves to make the hanger lighter without sacrifice of strength, and serves also another important purpose. On one side of this depression, as shown in Fig. 2, an opening is cut through opposite the side of the annular channel, in which the antifriction balls move. This opening is large enough to admit one of the balls, which are introduced through said opening to the channel. The hole may be closed by a simple bent strap held by a screw, or by a casting fitted to the depression and held in place in the same way. The latter device may be preferable.

The balls, being held in place bythe closing of the opening through which they are introduced, themselves serve the important function of holding the two main parts (sheave and case) together, so that no fastenings are needed to complete the hanger or bearing, excepting that which secures the opening through which the balls are admitted.

Fig. 5 shows a modified form of the wheel constructed in two sections, adapted to be riveted together. One section, as shown, forms the open back, the other the closed front.

Where this device is used the opening in the.

back of the case for inserting the balls is unnecessary.

The section forming the back is rst placed in position with the bolts or rivets in place. The balls are then inserted from the front and the outer section placed over the-m. This device may be preferable to use under certain circumstances.

I am aware that hangers of the general class herein shown have long been in common use. I am aware also that balls have been used in sheaves and the like for the same general purpose as used by me, and I am aware that the mere substitution ot' a wheel or sheave having anti-friction rollers for another old and common form of wheel cannot be claimed as patentable, and in view of the state of the art I desire distinctly to limit my claims to the specitic improvements made by me; but I do not Y yWheel, B, having a corresponding internal groove, and a series of anti-friction balls adapted to hold the wheel and boss in proper position with relation to each other, as set forth.

2. In a bearing for doors, the combination of a case having' a central boss with a dishshaped sheave inclosing the anti-friction Yrollers, the back of said sheave forming 011e side ofthe case, as set fort-h.

3. The depression in the front of the case, perforated to admit the balls, in combination with the grooved boss and ii'iternally-grooved dish-shaped wheel7 as set forth.

4. In a door-hanger, the boss b, having a groove, and the straight walls lr, and the sheave provided with a corresponding groove and with a flange, o, in combination with a series of anti-friction balls, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM J. LANE.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. LANE, GARRETT SonRYvE.

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